1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of infant clothing, and still more particularly to a wrapping article or "bunting" for infants, especially young babies.
2. Background Discussion
It is, of course, generally known that newly-born and young babies or infants are generally wrapped or "swaddled" in small, baby blankets or similar articles to keep the babies warm and contented, and to provide a protective padding against injury to the baby.
U.S. patents covering various types of such swaddling and protective baby wraps are known. These include U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,094, to Ruefer, issued Mar. 3, 1998, which discloses an infant swaddling apparatus. This apparatus forms a pouch which may be wrapped and secured with hook-and-loop fasteners. U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,226, to Crosby, issued Oct. 22, 1991, discloses a newborn car seat blanket, having a two-legged pouch to receive a baby's legs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,204, to Mohler, issued Sep. 10, 1991, discloses an infant wrapping article, having hook-and-loop fasteners, a hood, and separate leg pouches.
Other known U.S. patents are U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,458, to Linday, issued Jan. 22, 1991, which discloses an infant carrier in which a pouch is attached to a harness for carrying an infant; U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,371, to Christians, issued Feb. 20, 1990, discloses an infant bag garment for use in a car seat, the garment having separate arm sleeves and leg pouches; U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,885, to Lunt, issued Feb. 6, 1990, which discloses a one-piece infant bunting which folds flat, with hook-and-loop fasteners to hold the bunting around the baby in a wrap.
Still other known U.S. patents are U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,353, to Als et al., issued Sep. 16, 1986, which discloses an infant garment in which an infant is placed in a sack portion and then wrapped with two flaps that may hold by themselves or be augmented with hook-and-loop fasteners; U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,917, to Howsen, issued Apr. 22, 1997, which discloses an infant care garment, which garment forms a loose sack closed with hook and loop fastener and having sleeves for an infant's arms; U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,406, to Magnusen et al., issued Jul. 14, 1992, which discloses a baby straight-jacket for drug-addicted infants, the infant's arms are wrapped in a traditional straight-jacket manner, while the torso and legs may be optionally enclosed in the attached sack; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,095, to Schneider, issued Mar. 18, 1997, which discloses a multi-function baby wrap, that is not illustrated in use, but rather in flat, laid-out form.
For various reasons which will become apparent from the following description, the present inventor considers that his infant wrapping device provides patentable improvements over such known infant wrapping devices.